


The Finale to Our Innocence

by TheSubservientHuman



Series: The Curious Case of Archibald Andrews [1]
Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: (At least I think it is), Alice Cooper (Archie Comics) is the Worst, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Amnesia, And Archie Andrews Isn't Entirely What He Seems..., Betty Cooper Desperately Needs a Fucking Hug, Canon Rewrite, Cheryl Blossom is Cheryl Blossom, Fred Andrews is Blissfully Unaware, Gen, Josie McCoy is Being Led On, Jughead Jones is Suspicious, Kevin Keller is Just Happy to Be Here, Multi, Not a fix-fic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character Bevhavior, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Summary's Shit but the Story is Fire, Veronica Lodge is a Good GF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-05-13 07:28:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14744529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSubservientHuman/pseuds/TheSubservientHuman
Summary: It was bad enough at first. The old man is nearly murdered in what appears to have been a hit, and then his son is found lying on the floor unconscious in their house. All in all, it was not a good day for the Andrews' family.Fred Andrews recovered well, up and walking by the next week.Archie Andrews... well, no one really knew how to describe the way his fall in the shower that November afternoon ended up affecting him.That is, unless, you were one of his closest friends. And even in that situation you might not wholly believe it to be true...





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Well, since Season Two's over, I can finally start writing and publishing my Riverdale fanfic without the constant bombardment of being proven wrong!  
> (okay that was probably a very bad way to start the notes please dont leave)  
> I've had this idea since S1's hiatus and thus I've had a while to let it develop. (also for the record it feels really weird that Riverdale's been on air for a whole year to me please tell me I'm not the only one who feels that)  
> It's gonna be a little slow in the beginning chapters, I'm just going to warn you.  
> Anyway, let's just start this shit:

Veronica felt both nothing and everything at the same time, and as a result she could only stare into space, absent-mindedly stirring a glass of water for no other reason than the repetition of it.  


While of course she was concerned for Mr. Andrews, (His life _was_ the one holding on for life, after all.) she couldn’t help but think about how this was going to affect Archie. She’d known right from the beginning that Archie Andrews was somewhat of an emotional timebomb, and that anything had the potential to send him into a freefall. Though having a masked man attempt to murder your father wasn’t the way she had expected it to go down.  


The sound of snuffling broke her out of her trance. Looking down, she saw Vegas licking around the kitchen floor, no doubt trying to find anything that could count as food.  


“Hey, boy.” She whispered, holding her hand out for him. Vegas tilted his head, unsure of what to think.  


“It’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you. Come ‘re.”  


As much as she detested the idea of sitting on a floor this dirty, she fell to her knees and repeated the gesture.  


This time Vegas was more willing, coming close enough for Veronica to stroke his sides.  


“Good boy.” She whispered. Vegas responded with a long whine and turned his head to the direction of the bathroom.  


Come to think of it, Archie has been in there for a long time…  


“What’s wrong?” She asked him as she got up and looked at her watch.  


_1:25._  


Christ, he’d been in there for practically an hour!  


Veronica didn’t hesitate with rushing to the bathroom door, all the while digging through her purse for a bobby pin.  


Still clutching onto the pin, she knocked on the door.  


“Archie? Are you okay?”  


No response.  


“Archie???”  


Still nothing.  


“Archie Andrews, if you don’t answer me right now, I’m breaking through this door!”  


And… nothing.  


“Alright. You asked for it.” She said, pulling the pin out and scuffling it around the keyhole. “And for the record, if nothing’s wrong, I’m going to give it to you.”  


Cracking the code, Veronica opened the door only to get coated in steam. Coughing through the mess, she stepped into the room.  


Everything seemed to be in order. The shower was running, and the mirrors and walls looked just like you’d expect them to look like after an hour-long shower.  


But there was no sign of Archie anywhere in the room. No wet footprints on the bath mat, no misplaced towels, and especially no silhouette of him on the shower curtain.  


“… Arch-…ie?”  


Tentatively, Veronica walked towards the shower, hand already stretched out to pull the curtain back.  


Thousands of scenarios raced around inside of her head, most of them easily classifiable for the “worst case” category. Though she did her best to block them, it was proving to be more and more futile by the second.  


Touching the material for the first time, Veronica took in a deep breath and closed her eyes, praying.  


Flinging the curtain open, the first thing that crossed her mind was bright the sun was. (She honestly had to wonder why small-town homeowners insisted on having a window directly in front of the bathtubs.) The second thing on her mind was Vegas’ sudden yelping. Opening her eyes, she…  


…She…  


At that moment, Veronica didn’t know how to react. In fact, at that moment Veronica didn’t know a lot of things. The only thing she was in any way aware of was the impending wave of emotion that was about to come flooding out of her.  


After all, isn’t that how everyone would react at the sight of their boyfriend crumpled up in a heap at the bottom of a bathtub?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyy, this took a while! Final school stuff was getting to my head and I just didn't really have the energy to write anything. So this chapter might be a little short too. Not as short as LAST chapter, but probably under the length of the typical fic chapter. I'll make it up to y'all with Chapter Two, I swear on me mum.

Abbey Finn was in the middle of cutting her sandwich in half when she first heard the dog next door begin to howl. Andrews residence, naturally. She honestly had to wonder why Fred and Mary never bothered to properly deal with all that incessant barking the mutt did. Their child was bad enough as it was, there wasn’t any need to add another nuisance. If only it was more like her Isadora… 

Though it was an unwelcome addition to her afternoon, she continued to soldier on and pretend as if the dog didn’t exist. (Heaven knows she does that enough.) 

Then the screaming started in. 

They were clearly from a girl, and they weren’t normal screams either. If anything, it could be better described as a wailing, an almost siren-esque cry for help. 

It then dawned on Abbey that something might be wrong at the Andrews’ place. 

Abandoning her sandwich and giving her Isadora a goodbye, she stormed out of her house and marched over to the one on the left. The crying and barking got louder and louder the closer she came, until finally she reached the door to only hear unbridled chaos on the other side. She reached out for the ringer only to find that the door was already open. 

_*Hmpf. Must have let the kid in charge of locking it. *_

The door handle creaked as she pushed it away from her. 

Well, aside from the dirty-looking clothes tossed onto the kitchen table, everything looked to be order. 

Then, as it knew she had come inside, the Andrews’ dog came rushing out into the hallway, barking wildly and motioning her to follow it back down. 

“Get away, you!” Abbey hushed at it, swiping it with her hand before making her way to where all the commotion seemed to be. 

As she came closer to the bathroom, the cries of the girl were becoming more coherent. 

“ _Help, help! Archie, oh my god, say something! Archie, look at me, please, please! Oh my god…_” 

Now fully realizing how serious the situation was, Abbey broke out into a sprint to the bathroom door, and already punching in the numbers for 911. 

Yanking the door open, she was greeted to the sight of the Lodge’s daughter desperately trying to pull out Archie Andrews unconscious body out form the shower. 

  


Back at the hospital, a crowd of people sat around the waiting room in hopes of hearing anything about Fred Andrews. Even those who didn’t think too fondly of either Andrews were there, though they were often tagged along by others who had more positive feelings towards them. 

Whatever was the case, Jughead was sure Archie appreciated the support. 

Betty was the first person to notice him coming back and ran out to hug him. 

“What did the Serpents say?” She asked, quiet enough for nobody else to overhear them. 

“Mr. Andrews let a bunch of them off at the construction site. Tall Boy says it’s possible one of them could’ve snapped and gone after him.” 

Betty closed her eyes and groaned. “Great.” 

“Tell me about it. Last thing I need right now is another reason for Sheriff Keller to throw them under the bus.” 

“And another reason for my mom to throw down the hammer on my life again.” Betty added under her breath. 

Suddenly her phone began to ring. 

“I’ll be right back.” She said, squeezing his hand as walked away. 

Hopefully no one noticed how red Jughead’s cheeks must’ve be- 

“Aww, isn’t that sweet?” Reggie Mantle said, putting his hands on his heart in a mocking fashion. “Did anyone else see that? Well, I guess if the emo can find love, there’s hope for us all!” 

“Go to hell, Reggie.” Jughead muttered as he went to take a seat. 

There was a rather obvious layer of tension in the room as they all waited for any bit of development. 

Midge was the first one to break the silence. 

“Jughead?” 

Surprised she would even address him in the first place, Jughead raised his head for her to continue. 

“Are you and Betty really… you know…” 

Mr. Cooper and Mrs. Lodge looked at each other in surprise, knowing the implications of Midge’s words. Alice Cooper, on the other hand, opted to glare in Jughead’s direction instead. 

Jughead bit his lip. “I mean… maybe? I don’t know, neither of us have ever really thought about it that hard, but I guess we’re… dating.” 

Instantly every person in the waiting room under twenty began clamoring amongst themselves with this new information. 

“See? What did I tell you? I called it first!” Kevin said. 

“ You _called it?_ ” Jughead asked incredulously. 

“Oh yeah! Come on, it was getting obvious, Jug. We were all just waiting for the two of you to confirm it. Personally, I was for it since day one. I even came up with a name for it!” 

“God, Kevin, don’t tell him the ship name.” Jughead heard Moose moan through covered hands. 

“Now look what you did.” He stage whispered to Midge, neither one of them pretending to hide their laughter. 

“You thought it was a great name!” 

“Yeah, 'cause it was the only good one you had!” 

Midge in the meantime patted her boyfriend’s knee and hummed a little tune, much like what Jughead wished he could do right now. 

The sound of whimpering brought the group out of the quick moment of relief. An older woman trotted into the room, along with Betty, who was in the middle of trying to console a clearly distraught Veronica Lodge. 

“Um…” Betty paused. “Something happened at Archie’s house.” 

  


“I… I thought he was _dead_ at first.” Veronica said, staring into nothingness as she told her story. “I didn’t know what else to do, I-I just… panicked, and I tried to pull him out, but he was too big, and then Ms. Finn came in and then we called the ambulance, and then we drove it over here, and now…” 

“Oh, Mija…” Mrs. Lodge said, wrapping her in a tight hug. 

“M-Maybe I didn’t do enough. I should’ve been the one who called 911. I should’ve payed more attention. I should’ve- “ 

“Veronica.” Mrs. Lodge said, grabbing her by the chin and turning her head towards her. “What's done is done. What matters now is that Archie’s okay. This is the best place he could be right now, I know the doctors will take excellent care of him. Focus on that.” 

Veronica sniffled and nodded her head, which made Mrs. Lodge smile. 

“ _That’s_ what I like to see. You need another tissue?” 

“…Yes.” 

Mr. Cooper obliged instantly, handing Mrs. Lodge another set of napkins. 

“Damn.” Jughead heard Reggie breathe out to Moose. “Lodge is having as bad a day as Andrews.” 

“Gee, I haven't noticed.” 

The hospital doors swung open to reveal Dr. Masters with one of the nurses. They were given up most attention. 

“What’s the situation, Doctor?” Alice Cooper asked the man, showing a rare gleam of concern in her eyes. 

“Well, Fred Andrews is out of surgery, but he still can’t breathe on his own yet. We have two nurses getting his room ready for him as we speak, so you all can visit him in- What time did they say they’d be ready? - thirty minutes. 

“Now, as for Archie Andrews…” All the teenagers in the room shuffled closer to him. 

“Good news is that the only serious injury we found on him was the concussion. The bad news is that he doesn’t appear to be waking up, which is concerning…” 

“How long do you think it’ll be until he wakes up, Doctor?” Midge asked him. 

“There isn’t really a way to tell. We did a brain scan and it told us that the injury was relativity minor, well, as minor as head injuries get. It could be anywhere between a couple hours, a couple days, maybe even a week. Of course, he could wake up right this second and I still couldn’t fully tell you what could happen, what with all the complications that could come up.” A wave of disappointment filled the room. 

“So… what kind of complications are we talking about?” Veronica asked. 

“Well, the most common would be headaches, blurred vision, slurred speech, general confusion. While it’s likely that they won’t last anymore than a few months, lately I’ve been seeing cases like these where the symptoms are lasting a lot longer. One guy was still feeling it a year after the fact. Head injuries are very fickle that way.” 

Veronica looked as though she too had been shot. “Okay…” 

Another nurse came up to Dr. Masters and whispered something in his ear. He thanked her and sent her away. 

“Fred Andrews’ room is ready for you all. Try to talk to him, it might coax him awake.” With that, both he and the nurse turned around and went into another room on the side. 

“Oh my god…” Betty mumbled as she ran her fingers through her ponytail. 

Jughead stroked her back. “It’ll be okay, Bets.” Looking next to him, he saw Veronica sitting back down, continuing to be comforted by Mrs. Lodge. 

Though Jughead never really hung out or had a meaningful conversation with Veronica, he knew a lot about her. (Many thanks to a certain Blabbermouth Andrews.) He knew how much the two of them cared for each other. While Archie was going to wake up eventually, there was no way of telling how he’d end up. He could imagine how stressful it could be on any girlfriend, let alone a Manhattan Princess like Veronica Lodge. 

* _At least you’re not Veronica Lodge._ * 

“It could be worse, I guess.” Jughead told Betty instead. “At least they’re not dead.” 

“I mean, sure. But what if Archie doesn’t… wake up right?” 

Jughead raised an eyebrow. “What do you suppose by that?” 

“I don’t know, amnesia or the bad speech and vision or whatever. You heard what Dr. Masters said, Jughead. This might last for months, m-maybe even a year! And what about Mr. Andrews? He got shot for God’s sake! I mean, I know mystery novels aren’t the best source for medical research, but gunshots take a long time to heal! And-and what if the doctors and the surgeons made like a mistake or something? Like, what if they gave him too much anesthesia? Or-or left something dangerous inside of him, that happens! People _die_ from stuff like that, Jughead! And-and-and…” 

Jughead took her hands into his and stared her dead in the eye. 

“Betty, listen to me. Archie will be fine. Mr. Andrews will be fine. They’re gonna wake up, Sheriff Keller’s gonna catch the shooter, and everything’s gonna go back to normal, okay? It’ll all go back to normal.” 

Betty still looked unsure and her breaths remained shallow, but still nodded and mouthed a simple ‘okay.’ Jughead smiled and stroked her back. 

"You feeling better now?" He asked her. 

"Yeah." She said before giving a somewhat breathy laugh. "I don't know, maybe I'm overreacting a little bit." 

“Maybe. I wouldn't go kicking yourself for it, all things considered.” He said, “It’s not like they’re gonna come back as a different people, though. Whatever happens, it won't be the end of the world.” 

_At least I think..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've returned! (Much to the dismay of many)  
> Sorry for the long chapter wait once again, I am currently working on the next part right now, and if my time constraints are feeling generous, it will be either early tomorrow morning, or tomorrow afternoon. if I can't get it out then it will be sometime Friday.  
> Anyway, this is chapter where the story really starts pumping up in my opinion, as it sets up the little mystery I've made. I know that sounds kinda gloating, but after this part we're moving away from setup and into the actual plot, so we got that, I guess.

In truth, running up a torn gravel sidewalk in a pair of four-inch heels was probably not the best for Mary Andrews. But it didn’t matter.

Unless it involved her husband and son, nothing mattered to her right now.

A doctor was right at the door to greet her. “Mrs. Andrews, there’s no need to ru- “

“How are they?” She panted, grabbing onto his arm.

“Your husband is awake and out of surgery, but Archie is still unconscious. They’re both in stable condition, and their rooms are open to visitors.”

Mary took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay, which rooms?”

“Archie is 115 and Mr. Andrews is 160.”

Mary turned around to see a very tired and stressed Betty Cooper, along with FP’s son, who held his hand up in greeting.

Taking Betty’s hand and silently thanking her, she rushed off to see them.

 

Fred looked so weak laying there. Mary supposed it was understandable, given the severity of his injuries, but it just didn’t look _right_ to see him in that state.

She caught his eye as she stood by the doorway, to which he chuckled. “Didn’t think you’d come so soon.”

“Fred, you took a bullet to the stomach. It’s a miracle you made it to the hospital, never mind surgery.”

He scoffed and brushed her off. Typical, really.

“I take it Keller hasn’t found the guy yet?” Mary asked as she took a seat.

“Well, ‘last anyone told me they rounded up a bunch of guys, but Pop Tate says none of them match him.”

“Wonderful.” She muttered under her breath. “I just don’t understand what the motive could possibly be. Who would want to shoot you?”

“Hell, if I know. The only thing I could come up with are all those workers I laid off the other day. They were pretty angry about it.”

“You sure? They way everyone’s going on about it, this is serious!”

“It’s the press, Mary. They overblow everything. It was only a robber. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Mary grimaced, but said nothing. In most cases, she would give Fred the benefit of the doubt, but from what she knew, the place where he was shot, the way the guy disappeared without a trace in such a small town, the fact everyone’s taken to calling him “ ** _The Angel of Death_** ,” there was such a sinister undertone, Mary just couldn’t simply brush it off.

“Have you seen Archie yet?” Fred’s question broke her trance.

“No, I haven’t. The doctor said he’s still unconscious, though.”

Fred nodded solemnly. “Figured as much. He said he could be anywhere up to a month in there.”

“Oh, God.” Mary rubbed her eyes. The thought of him in a coma for that long…

“From what I’ve seen, the kids aren’t taking it very well.” Fred said.

“I saw Betty and FP’s son back at the waiting room, poor things look like they’ve been here all night.” Mary giggled a little bit. “I wonder what kind of sorcery they used to convince Hal and Alice to let Betty stay there.”

“Oh, _that…. that_ was a fight. I heard it all the way from here.”

“Oh, you did _not_!”

“No, I’m serious! Between Alice and Betty, you could’ve heard it from… I don’t know, Hackensack.”

“You’re exaggerating. And besides, we all know Hal has a much louder range.”

“Well, now I think _you’re_ the one that’s exaggerating.”

Mary playfully flicked him in the arm and they laughed it all off, if only for a few seconds. Then, it turned back into the quiet, sullen atmosphere it was a couple minutes ago.

“Archie’s really worried about you.” Mary said. “I could tell when he called, he was trying so hard not to cry.”

Concern flooded Fred’s eyes. “He was?”

Mary nodded. “Also, I was researching concussions and I ending up finding that heavy emotional stress is a catalyst for fainting. So, maybe that’s why this happened?”

“Makes enough sense, I guess.” Fred took a deep breath. “I thought he was calm on the way to the hospital. Well, as calm as Archie ever is.”

“Yeah, he was close to breaking by the time we’d hung up… He shouldn’t have to go through this.”

It was only after the words left her lips did Mary realize what the words could’ve meant for Fred. She turned to him, but fortunately he was too lost in his own thoughts to even register what she said. Dodged a bullet there, if she said so herself.

Wait… dammit.

 

Mary wasn’t sure what time it was when one of the nurses shook her awake from her sleep. She’d probably slept right through visiting hours, goddammit.

“Mrs. Andrews?” She asked.

“Okay, I’ll go. Just lemme… get my purse…”

The nurse groaned and bit her cheek. “No, Mrs. Andrews. Your son, he’s woken up. You can see him now.”

**That** woke Mary up.

“Where, what room? No, wait… 15 It’s fifteen, right?”

The nurse nodded as she grabbed her purse for her. “Yes, 115. Now remember, he’s still in recovery, and because of that he’s very dazed and confused right now. Just talk slowly, and don’t make any more upset than he already is.” Handing the purse back to her, she walked away before Mary could ask what exactly she meant by that. No matter, she had to see Archie.

Running down the hall until she finally reached the number 115, she slowly peeked through the doorway. Inside was Archie, who would look completely lifeless if not for the finger hovering around his ear, and his eyes trying to take in every detail of the room.

She tapped on the doorframe, which caused him to jump.

“*Shhh, * it’s okay Archie.” Mary said, taking the nurse’s advice to speak slowly. “It’s just Mom.”

“…M-Mom?”

There were no words that could properly describe the happiness Archie radiated when he saw her.

Mary smiled. “Hey, baby. How’re you doing?”

“I… I can… _hear_ you!”

Good lord, he really was out of it. Coming closer to him, she grabbed his hand. “You scared us there for a second.”

“I… did?”

Wait, no, don’t make him upset, that was the thing. “It’s okay now, though. You’re awake, Dad’s awake, everythi-.”

“Wait... Dad’s… alive?”

“*Mm-hm.* The surgeon said it was one of the most successful operations he’d ever done.”

Archie’s eyes began to well up with tears. “Dad’s _alive_??”

Mary could see the glow on his face strengthening. “Yes, Dad’s alive.”

Archie finally broke through and tears of joy poured out. “I… He… _he’s alive_!!”

He reached out to her, and Mary reciprocated immediately, giving him the tightest hug she could without harming him.

“This… this is…not real.” Archie said through tears. “But… it… _is_ , right?”

“Yes, it is, Baby, yes, it is…”

Archie began to laugh, the kind of childlike laugh that would make anyone whose ears it hit. “This is… the _best day of my life_!”

 

As the week went on, things slowly… became off. Fred’s recovery was going all according to schedule. With the required bedrest and more advanced physical therapy, he could very well come out in even better shape then when he came in.

Archie, on the other hand, was acting… bizarre.

 

The first hint that there was something off was the morning after he regained consciousness with Veronica’s visit.

 

With the clopping of high heels on tile floor, Veronica Lodge made her presence known as she ran to greet her boyfriend.

“Archie!” She called out as she neared his room. Oddly enough, Archie did not respond right away, only noticing her when she popped her head in.

“Veronica?”

“Heyyy, how are you?? Oh my god, you scared me!” She bent down slightly to kiss him.

Archie furrowed his brows. “Are you sick, Ronnie?”

“No, why, we… *heh, * we were just with each other yesterday, I’m fine.”

“O…kay.” Archie looked down and played with his hands. “You sound different, that’s all.”

Now it was Veronica’s turn to be confused. “What, what do you mean?’

“Your voice sounds off. I don’t know why, you just do.”

 

Dr. Masters offered an explanation: Concussion victims often have ringing in their ears after injury. It was completely possible that this was the cause for Archie’s claims of a different sounding Veronica, as the ringing was affecting how he heard others.

That was all fine and dandy… but another issue came up the next day that was harder to explain.

 

* _Thank God_ , * Betty Cooper thought, as she dragged herself and her boyfriend down the hospital hallway. School and Parents had prevented her from making the trip down, and Jughead too was seeing Archie awake for the first time, though in his case his parents were of the foster kind.

She didn’t even wait to say hello, the second she went in the room she gave Archie a huge bear hug.

Archie (Who was fortunate enough to have been sitting up when the attack occurred) laughed and said, “What took you so long?”

“A certain female witch decided to put a binding spell on her.” Jughead called out before coming into view.

“Holy crap, seriously? Did she really- “Archie paused when he looked up at Jughead.

“Hey Jug, what’s with the knit cap?”

Jughead leaned his head back and his eyebrows narrowed. “What?”

“Y’know, the thing on your head.” Archie pointed at the top of his own head before giggling again. “Why are you wearing that? It looks kinda dumb on you, no offence.”

“Archie…” Betty said, “Jughead’s been wearing that beanie almost every day for two years.”

Archie’s face fell, and his eyes darted back and forth between Betty and the beanie. “But that’s not his hat!”

“It _is_.”

“No, no, it’s not. I-I’m serious, I’ve never seen him wear that hat once in his life!’

 

The argument lasted an entire hour, and while Betty and Jughead did eventually win, the denial of basic fact worried them. (Along with the sight of Archie jumping a foot when Betty pulled out her phone to prove Jughead’s owning of the hat since middle school.)

Dr. Masters’ answer was less clear this time, but it _sorta_ made sense. Often when people get concussions, they get amnesia about what happened during the events of the injury. Though it was extremely rare and a tad illogical by medical standards, it was possible Archie’s concussion caused him to lose pockets of his memories, one of which happened to include what Jughead’s hat looked like.

It didn’t make complete sense, but it made enough of it that no one bothered to challenge it.

What did make absolutely no sense, however, was what happened two days later…

 

“Well, Mr. Andrews, we’ve gotten your bloodwork in, and it looks like you’re in very stable condition!” Nurse Cherrie said to Fred as flipped through the paper in the notebook.

“That’s good. When does the doctor say I’ll can be discharged?”

“Well, while your health is the best as it can be, you’re still on shaky ground. Dr. Masters is suggesting that it might be best to keep you a couple days.”

“Dammit.” Fred said jokingly. “Well, what can you do, I guess…”

“Fred?” He heard Mary ask from the hallway before she walked into the room. “Oh, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

Nurse Cherrie shook her head. “No, Mrs. Andrews, I’m just getting ready to leave.”

“Okay, because Fred has a visitor. He’s been very anxious waiting to see him.”

“Oh, I wonder who that person is?” Fred asked to Nurse Cherrie.

“I’ll bring him in.” Mary said, walking back out.

“I’m guessing it’s the _other_ Andrews in our listings?” Nurse Cherrie asked.

Fred nodded. “Yeah, from what Mary’s been telling me, he’s been counting down the hours for this.”

“ _DA_ -“Archie’s excited cry froze in place, as did the boy himself.

“Hey, Arch.” Fred said, struggling to sit himself up against all the tubes. “How’re you doing?”

Archie shuffled back and started to shake his head. “No.”

Mary put a hand on his arm. “Archie? What’s wrong.”

“That’s not Dad.” Archie said, monotone.

“What?”

“That’s not _Dad_.” Archie said again, this time with more emphasis.

“Archie, what are you talking about?” Fred asked. “Come on, you know it’s me.”

“No! No, you’re not my dad, _you’re not Dad_!’

“Should… should I send for his doctor?” Nurse Cherrie asked, whether to Fred or to Mary no one was sure. In truth, no one particularly cared, either.

“Archie, just tell me what’s wrong, what do you mean it’s not Dad?” Mary asked again.

“ _That’s not Dad! That’s not Dad! _” Looking down both sides of the hallway, Archie ended up running away to the left.

“ **Archie**!” Mary yelled out to him, running right after him.

 

Mary found Archie in the waiting room, begging the poor receptionist to look at the records again, that there just _had_ to be another Fred Andrews in the hospital, all in front of a quartet of surprised teenagers.

This time, Dr. Masters had no explanation whatsoever.

“In truth, Archibald’s case is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in my twenty-eight years of service. Memory loss of the injury, that’s almost a guarantee. Losing certain sections of memory, that almost never happens, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibility. But forgetting an entire _person’s appearance_ , that’s unheard of. In fact, I don’t think something like this has ever been reported in medical history. It’s not TGA, he can still recall names and certain faces, and he got most of his information right. I just can’t figure out what’s wrong here.

“The best advice I could give is to take him home and try to bring his memories back. Yes, I know it’s a little bit risky, but it might just work. Brain injuries are a fickle thing, like I said, and Archie _did_ fail to get immediate medical attention, after all. Perhaps this is just a result of it all. Whatever the case, I’d recommend you stay here in Riverdale until either Fred or Archibald fully recovers. Between the bedrest and this strange behavior, it might be for the best, you both can partially do some of your work at home, right?

“No, I’m afraid I can’t give you a proper prognosis. This is more of a ‘wait-and-see’ sort of thing. Though if it gives you any comfort, it can’t get any worse from here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh, the intrigue! (or, at least the possibility of intrigue. Thankfully I am not a mind reader.)  
> As I said, next chapter will be out on Friday AT THE MOST.


End file.
